Saving keyboard settings to computer?

[ypelletier]

Hi,

I have a Yamaha YPT-300 connected to a computer (Windows XP) with a MIDI-USB cable.

I find it annoying to change the settings from the keyboard panel (main voice, split voice, split point, split volume, chorus, etc.): I would really like to be able to save the settings in some software and retrieve them later with a click of the mouse. Is this doable with my keyboard?

I tried XG-Wizard and XG-Edit (Yamaha says XG-Edit is compatible with my YPT-300). They work great in GM mode, but I can't use them in XG mode, (is it normal? My keyboard is XGlite...). In GM, I have been unable to split the keyboard, and I would like to use also voices which are not GM.

I also tried MIDI-OX: I sent a manual dump from the keyboard to the software ("InitSend", with the "Function" button), saved it as a Sysex file, and sent it again to the keyboard: it just resets the settings to piano voice.

Judging from the owner's manual, the keyboard only accept a very limited number of sysex messages, maybe this is why I didn't succeed.

Any suggestion?

 

[kanthos]

I'd suggest not getting your computer involved, especially if your keyboard is so limited with regards to Sysex. Does your keyboard allow you to save settings for later use? Maybe not for the individual instrument, but as a performance instead of a program (insert Yamaha's terminology of choice here?) If you have any intention of playing live, you won't want to haul a computer around just so you can restore presets.

 

[ypelletier]

Thanks for the suggestion. I can't find a way to save settings on the keyboard, this is why I would like to use the computer to fix this limitation. I don't play live and the keyboard is always near the computer, so this is not a problem.

In a MIDI file, it's so easy to change the voices played by the keyboard and save them (all I have to do is change the MSB, LSB and voice number to whatever I want), but I can't find a way to do the same thing with the sound played when I hit a key. Maybe it just can't be done?

 

[kanthos]

According to the user manual for your keyboard, it doesn't look like your keyboard even does programs, but to save the current settings on the keyboard, you can press and hold the function button for a couple seconds. That'll save the following:

Touch response: on/off
Tuning
Split point
Touch sensitivity
Style volume
Song volume
Metronome volume
Demo cancel
Panel Sustain

That's probably not everything that you'd want, but it's better than nothing. Beyond that though, looks like you're out of luck. Yamaha *does* make software that will transfer song data to and from your keyboard, but that seems to be it.

Maybe try leaving the keyboard on for extended periods of time? Or just accept that you have to change the settings more often than you'd like. The keyboard looks like an older keyboard at the low end of the quality spectrum, so it's not that surprising (although unfortunate for you) that it doesn't do many advanced things.

Hope this helps!

 

[ypelletier]

OK, this is what I suspected... The keyboard is not that old (made in 2005, I think), but its price was $100, so I can't really complain...

Thanks for the info!